AWADmail Issue 790

A Weekly Compendium of Feedback on the Words in A.Word.A.Day and Tidbits about Words and Language

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Your editorializing over astrology not being a science is a definite
turn-off. Have enjoyed your daily offerings for years, but no longer. Check
out the history of astrology, and how Arabic astrologer/astronomers of the
13th, 14th, and 15th centuries were considered some of the most enlightened
minds on the planet. I am surprised you chose not to take similar aim at
Vedic astrology, Chinese astrology, and any of a number of others. I am
a classically-trained biologist. I am also, by the accounts of those who
have readings from me, a reasonably accomplished astrologer. There may be
a dichotomy, but the gap between the two is hardly a chasm.

Rick Duncan, Helena, Montana

At one time I believed in astrology, palmistry, and more. It can be
difficult to admit that we have been wrong, but I have learned to follow
the truth wherever it may lead. I have also found that to admit my error
is another way of saying that I’m better-informed now.

Here’s a simple test that you and anyone can conduct to test astrology:

Make (or have a trusted astrologer make) horoscopes of four people.

Make four copies of each of these horoscopes. (It should be obvious,
but remove names, birth dates, and other identifying information before
making copies.)

Give one copy of each horoscope to each person.

Everyone has four horoscopes but only one describes their life --
it should be easy for them to identify which one is theirs.

If you believe in palmistry, numerology, phrenology, etc., you can do a
similar experiment there. Over the years I have met many people who were
very confident in whatever pseudo-science they believed in, but for some
reason none of them were willing to do this simple experiment. Perhaps
deep down they knew how it was going to turn out.

James Randi did an experiment like this (video, 1.5 min.).
You can replicate it too.
See also this summary of studies done to determine the validity of
astrology. Required reading, for astrology believers and non-believers alike.

By the way, ever notice companies employ people in research, development,
sales, marketing, HR, and so on, but not one person in astrology? They
do not decide product launch dates based on the position of Venus and
Pluto. They do not consider birth charts when identifying best recruits.

Some readers wrote that astrology can be harmless fun. It’s not. It can
result in unconscious prejudice,
and worse. I have seen astrologers in magazine Q&A columns prescribing
astrological nonsense for serious problems relating to health, work,
relationship, and beyond:

Magazine reader: Sometimes I feel suicidal. Please help!
Astrologer: That’s because your Saturn is in the third house. Wear a
silver ring with a topaz.

Magazine reader: I don’t have a job and am having money problems.
Astrologer: Mars is in a difficult position. Wear a gold ring with a
sapphire to pacify Mars.

PS: When I said astrology is bunk, I wasn’t talking about any specific
flavor of astrology. But since you asked, they all are bunk.

From: Robert Sanford (rhsanford gmail.com)
Subject: Astrology

Carl Sagan had an observation on astrology that your obstetrician had more
influence on you than Jupiter. (video, 9 min.)

Robert Sanford, Camas, Washington

From: Scott Wallace (swallace qcmresearch.com)
Subject: Re: astrology

Some time ago, a group of bored engineers decided to foment discord (and
perhaps entertain themselves a bit) by founding the pseudo-science known
as Jumbo Jetology. The reasoning behind it being that the placement of
jumbo jets in the sky at the time of your birth/conception (whatever) had
several thousand times the effect on you than that of the planets and/or
constellations. I myself was born under the sign of Trans World Airlines
with Western Airlines rising.

Scott Wallace, Wildomar, California

From: Glenn Vanstrum (glennvanstrum gmail.com)
Subject: astrology

An acquaintance, a fresh journalism grad, was hired by a newspaper (both
shall remain nameless). As a total rookie, he was given the bottom rung
job of writing the daily zodiac column. He protested that he knew nothing
about astrology. “Nobody else does, either. Just read up on it and fake a
column every day,” was the reply. Although he thought he was pretty good
at it, they soon hired someone else and booted him up a rung, to obituaries.

Glenn Vanstrum, San Diego, California

From: Gigi Gottwald (gottwalds axxess.co.za)
Subject: Astrology

The South African newspaper “Sunday Times” has just dropped the “Pedant
Class” from its pages, a witty and informative column about the finer
points of language. They have retained, however, a half-page of astrology
drivel. If this is not a prime example of intentional dumbing-down of the
readership, I don’t know what is.

Giggles here. Now I am totally confused, have no idea who I am without
the signature characteristics of Aquarius. And do you mean that “Mercury
in retrograde” means nothing? What will we do without something to blame
for things going haywire this month? All month!

Sue McLaren, Kimberton, Pennsylvania

From: Walter Richards (via website comments)
Subject: Jupiter

You wrote: Or planets. Jupiter has no effect whatsoever on you.

Actually, Jupiter has a very great effect. It determines whether we live
or die, The large gravity of Jupiter affects the orbits of the planets,
including Earth. Jupiter protects us from possible meteor collisions.

In Norway, the dog days last from July 23/24 to August 23/24. The tradition
says things tend to rot and turn moldy during this period, which is not
surprising before fridges. In all of Northern Europe there are weather signs
connected with the dog days, like the first day is predicting the weather
for the whole period, or that it will end as it begins, or the opposite.

Thank you, Anu, for providing the etymology for a confusing French word. When
it turned so warm here in Paris last month, everyone was bemoaning the
canicule. I knew it meant heat wave, but had no idea where that odd word
came from. Now I can ooh-la-la the canicule with confidence!

Peggy Hale Bilbro, Huntsville, Alabama

From: Mary Taslimi (mary.taslimi cogeco.ca)
Subject: dog Flower

I misread the first sentence of today’s post -- “My dog Flower is water-shy”
-- and wondered why you, of all people, would render dog flower in such
a fashion, and why a plant in your garden would be water-shy ...!

Mary Taslimi, Waterdown, Canada

From: Jim Brown (via website comments)
Subject: zoos

I saw this earlier today. A Calvin and Hobbes cartoon from 1993. Spot on, I think.

Jim Brown

From: Gabriel Lodovico (via website comments)
Subject: animals

We have no right to inflict pain, suffering, or even disregard on sentient
beings. It’s speciesism and like other isms, time to know better. Flower
is lovely. We have a bath-averse 100-lb. malamute. We spelled words until
he caught on to w-a-l-k, c-a-r, f-e-e-d. Those were replaced with vehicle,
ambulate, and repast, thanks to your site.

I love this word, but I can’t help thinking that it is what lions see with,
or maybe what the Eagles sing about in their 1975 hit, “you can’t
hide your lionize” (or something like that). At least that tune fits in
with the THOUGHT FOR TODAY (O, what a tangled web we weave, / When first
we practise to deceive! -Walter Scott, novelist and poet)
(video, 6 min., lyrics, also see mondegreen)

Timothy Ebert, Auburndale, Florida

From: Gail Cawkwell (gail.cawkwell gmail.com)
Subject: lionize

In biology, the similar word “lyonization” is the inactivation of an X
chromosome. Women continue to have two X chromosomes, but only one stays
functional.

When I saw the subject line of today’s offering, chicken hawk, I thought
to myself, “Well, this will raise a few eyebrows!”

What came to my mind was a term used in gay bars and clubs in the 1970s.
A chicken was a young gay man, old enough to get into one of those
establishments, but inexperienced in the social interactions in such a
place. Hawk, however, referred to an aggressive older man who preferred
young men in the form of a conquest.

As a 17-year-old in 1970, hitting the bars in Greenwich Village, there
would always be a chicken hawk I would have to fend off.

The illustration for ‘blackbird’ was actually a group of aboriginal
prisoners rather than indentured labourers, as the meta-data from the site
makes clear. It is, nevertheless, a very shocking image.

Most of the ‘blackbirding’ in Australia was in the East where Pacific
Islander labourers were used in the nascent sugar cane industry. The
practice continued into the early 1900s. Most Australians would now regard
blackbirding as an embarrassing euphemism for slavery.

Bill Venables, Dutton Park, Australia

From: Anne Abbo (asabbo49 gmail.com)
Subject: Blackbird

One of my favorite new baby gifts is a new book with a bookmark featuring
the last stanza of “The Reading Mother” by Strickland Gillilan. The first
stanza includes a reference to blackbirds as slaves:

I had a mother who read to me
Sagas of pirates who scoured the sea.
Cutlasses clenched in their yellow teeth;
‘Blackbirds’ stowed in the hold beneath.

Anne Abbo, Topeka, Kansas

From: Jill Lund (via website comments)
Subject: blackbird

I find that I am still not too old to learn. On a visit to Mount Vernon,
the Virginia home of George Washington, I found that all references to
“slaves” had been changed to “enslaved persons”. The reasoning was that
calling persons “slaves” deprived them of their humanity, turning them
into mere objects. This was a good lesson that the words we use shape our
thinking as much as our thinking shapes our words.

Jill Lund

From: Cat Arnold (via website comments)
Subject: Blackbird

I didn’t know this about enslaved persons being called blackbirds.
Immediately I began to hum the beautiful song Blackbird by the Beatles. My interpretation:
once was enslaved but now found wings and the correct time. Good song for
anyone going through a life change.

I’m in London, where not far away we have a pub called the Spread-Eagle. It
was said that this term applied to a peculiarly horrible torture used by
Vikings. Their prisoner, especially if a chief, would be tied to a tree,
hands above head and spread wide. His chest would be cut open down the
sternum so that the living organs would be visible,
then slowly torn out.

This cautionary maxim came to mind in contemplating our word(s), “dog
days”. Here, the quintessential English gent, Winston Churchill, finds
himself in a bit of a hot-spot, under the pulsating midday sun, confronted
by a trio of irate dogs.

Many chroniclers and caricaturists point out the resemblance of his often
scowling countenance to a grumpy bulldog. So in my cartoon scenario,
“Winnie” stares down his canine doppelganger, of sorts... as temps rise
and tempers flair.

*Apparently this bit of observational wisdom came from Rudyard Kipling’s
“Gunga Din”. In the ‘30s, playwright Noel Coward titled a catchy Broadway
show-tune using this identical line, save, dropping the lead word... “only”.

Donald Trump... “King of The Hill”... “Boss of The Beltway”... clearly
takes great pride in his “pride” of lionizing, sycophantic White House
aides. None more so than his loyal-to-a-fault, shrewd, icy, senior policy
adviser, and anti-immigration advocate (legal and illegal), Stephen Miller.

Former San Francisco 49ers quarterback Colin Kaepernick took considerable
flack, as well as a modicum of praise from some quarters, for his
kneeling-on-one-knee protest during the playing of the National Anthem. He
was protesting the lack of respect and support for school teachers while
billions of dollars flow into our military complex... “bombs bursting
in air”.

Here, I’ve presented kneeling protester Kaepernick in the guise of a bald
eagle team mascot... this once endangered, noble creature being one of
our most iconic symbols of US patriotism, freedom, and endurance.

Hot weather can cause such malaise
Sweaty skin is a bothersome glaze.
But if swimsuits you skip
And with friends skinny dip,
You’ll have fun while for prudes it’s the dog days.
-Janice Power, Cleveland, Ohio (jpower wowway.com)

Would that dog days were only for dogs
and slime ponds produced only frogs!
From you-know-who we’d be free,
we’d all shout “Yessiree!
No more tweets, midnight rants, pettifogs.”
-Brenda J. Gannam, Brooklyn, New York (gannamconsulting earthlink.net)

Summer’s lazy and sultry dog days,
Where we view life from hammock or chaise.
A time to retreat
To lethargy sweet,
‘Til the fall knocks us out of that phase.
-Judith Marks-White, Westport, Connecticut (joodthmw gmail.com)

“The hatred is on many sides,”
Said the one whom most others deride.
It’s the Senate’s dog days
And they can’t muster “yeas”
For a man going out with the tides.
-Steve Benko, New York, New York (stevebenko1 gmail.com)

While some keep their eyes on the prize,
One man provokes hatred and lies.
But all I’ll remember
When he’s gone in December
Is his orange hair and lionize.
-Adam Perl, Ithaca, New York (adam pastimes.com)

If with words of the self-lionized
Our crops could all be fertilized,
No more hunger among us,
Just a Washington fungus,
A magic mushroom we might not despise!
-Steve Cabito, Santa Rosa, California (steve cabito.com)

I still can’t believe my own eyes
When I see who crowds yet lionize.
A nasty old gremlin
Who works for the Kremlin
Selected by Vladimir’s spies.
-Steve Benko, New York, New York (stevebenko1 gmail.com)

I have witnessed this week a real chicken hawk;
A cheap coward who can not walk the walk.
He’s so busy condemning
Those who stand up defending
The ones who know how to talk the talk.
-Bill Raiford, Thomasville, Georgia (br2002 rose.net)

Old men make wars for young men to fight;
their agenda, let our might make right!
But our own chicken hawk
isn’t brave, he’s all squawk.
Maybe that’s why he can’t sleep at night.
-Zelda Dvoretzky, Haifa, Israel (zeldahaifa gmail.com)

The chicken hawk as National Bird
Would be, for pure logic, preferred.
With all our politicos
Whose bravery is just a pose,
It really is not so absurd.
-Anna C Johnston, Coarsegold, California (ajohnston13 gmail.com)

“With fire and fury we’ll talk,”
Says the world’s number one chicken hawk.
“I’ll show them how brave
A real man can behave,
For I’m fearless as beaver I stalk.”
-Steve Benko, New York, New York (stevebenko1 gmail.com)

Black birds are still some of my faves,
Their jet plumage deserving of raves.
But now that I’ve learned
how “to blackbird” was turned,
I’ll see all black birds henceforth as slaves.
-Brenda J. Gannam, Brooklyn, New York (gannamconsulting earthlink.net)

The blackbirds were aghast to find themselves in the pie.
They cried blue murder and vowed not to die.
After it was baked in the oven,
the king cut the big pie open.
Out flew the blackbirds and gouged out his eye.
-Shyamal Mukherji, Wakefield, Massachusetts (mukherjis hotmail.com)

Given this grim definition,
of which I had no precognition,
I find I lack words
to write of blackbirds --
poor souls in such wretched condition.
-Anne Thomas, Sedona, Arizona (antom earthlink.net)

Said Donald, “Nice work on your placard,”
As Nazis and Klansmen he flattered.
“For the old days I yearn
When a cross you could burn
And when people of color we’d blackbird.”
-Steve Benko, New York, New York (stevebenko1 gmail.com)

The tax returns Trump does conceal--
Imagine what they might reveal!
If deeds illegal,
See Trump spread-eagle
In need of the art of the deal.
-Marion Wolf, Bergenfield, New Jersey (marionewolf yahoo.com)

Our national symbols are regal;
They give satisfaction moral and legal;
But when leaders support
Evil chanters’ cohort,
There’s a blot on the handsome spread-eagle.
-Marcia Sinclair, Newmarket, Canada (marciasinclair rogers.com)

The officer said, “Spread-eagle now!”
So I asked him to please show me how.
He stepped off to one side,
Arms and legs opened wide.
Then he threw me in the old hoosegow.
-Lois Mowat, Orinda, California (loscamil aol.com)

“Get down on the ground and spread-eagle,”
Said Lucy to Snoopy, the beagle.
“We’re making this yard
Great again and you’re barred.
We’ve decided your breed isn’t legal.”
-Steve Benko, New York, New York (stevebenko1 gmail.com)